Generally, agricultural crops are adversely affected by variations in soil moisture levels. Irrigation water is commonly brought to fields and individual crops by means of piping or ditches before it is transferred to the crops via pools of standing water that soak into the ground or by water-emitting devices such as sprinkler systems and the like. Excess water that is not absorbed into the cropland either evaporates or flows downstream where it re-enters the natural watershed.
Over the last several decades, water has become increasingly scarce. Managing crops with a minimal amount of water in a cost effective manner has become a paramount concern, and today's irrigation methods must be designed with an eye toward maximum efficiency and water conservation.
Existing vessel-based irrigation systems utilize volumes of water for the purpose of irrigating deciduous tree crops, grapevines, and other small-fruited vines and/or trees. In some vessel-based systems, water-filled vessels are used to water individual trees while the plants are young in order to establish a root system. Other systems employ vessels or fixtures to water individual trees throughout their lifespans, but these systems are costly, individual structures unsuitable for an entire crop. Both types of vessel-based systems are based on the concept of providing water to each vessel associated with an individual crop. Any excess water provided is lost to evaporation or the watershed.
Beyond complex irrigation needs, crops are plagued by temperature variations in the ambient environment. Frost and/or freeze protection may mean the difference between a full crop and a total crop loss. In this regard, heating and cooling systems for croplands have been well documented. These thermal-protection systems run autonomously to help maintain optimal growing temperatures throughout the growing season, maximizing plant growth and yield.
While mechanisms exist to manage both proper soil irrigation and temperature variations on croplands, these two issues are currently addressed separately. As a result, industry professionals are forced to employ expensive, sophisticated systems to manage each challenge independently of the other. Existing systems are not dual purposed, in that they do not focus on efficient irrigation and water conservation while also utilizing the natural potential energy of the irrigation water available around the crops to provide thermal protection to help lighten frost damage during freeze events when crops are vulnerable. This forces growers to allocate too much money for purchasing and operating multiple inefficient systems that both waste and disregard the potential of valuable natural resources.